Re the runner who passed away, any news about the cause etc?
Little for me to add other than what has been reported in the press:
Mark was running with his brother. They ran a 1:47 with little difficulty by all accounts and then he just collapsed. I crossed the line about 12 minutes after them and saw the medics administering CPR before taking Mark off in an ambulance. The autopsy results are due out late this afternoon. I don't know if they will be made public.
2017 Goals1) Run more than 231 miles2) Be ready for HM in the spring
Crossed the line with a chip time, and new PR by 9 mins, of 1:53:34
Great job Matt!
This group is very motivating.
Nerd
Race was AWESOME!!! Beautiful weather and I set a PR!!!!
Day started at 6:00 with coffee, water, a Pop-Tart, and a Powerbar. Headed down to runner shuttle pickup at 7:45. They shuttled us up canyon to the race start. It was COLD.....below freezing when we left and probably only in the mid 40s (Fahrenheit) at race start. It didn't help that we were in the shade of the canyon even when the sun was up. Runners dropped off "sweats" bag about 20-25 minutes before race start where we assembled in mass.
Here is just a tangent rant at this point. What is it with people?!?!?!?! No less than 10 times the race announcer instructed people to make it to the race start line and that port-o-lets were also up at the start line. Everyone languished around and then at the last minute there were hundreds of people waiting in the line for the toilets. Worse yet, there were dozens and dozens of men and women who were just heading up among the rocks (or not) to relieve themselves basically out in the open. I can understand needing to relieve myself, but holy cow were people given the chance to do it with plenty of time. OK, back to my report.
Race started 5 or 10 minutes late (10:00 scheduled start). Sun was out and not a cloud in the sky. Crisp clear sun and views that you cannot believe.
I ran the first few miles at increasing pace. I think mid run I slowed down because I feared being able to keep the pace I set. I backed off and there were a couple of minor hills in there. I did realize at about mile 9 or so that I couldn't keep that overall pace and that all I had to do was to keep a relatively easy and consistent pace. My original goal was to just have fun here and try for a sub 2:00 race. When I saw my pace at like mile 7 or 8 I figured I might be able to set a PR. I was out of gas, though, but just kept plugging away.
Set PR at 1:52:15!!! Check out the pictures......
Keep the running and fitness up and keep the weight from coming back.
Run more miles than last year.
Great stuff Sean. Nice running and great pics!
Next stop... under 1:50:00?
Also... dammit man!
You go under two hours at the end of Jan ... I go under two hours and beat your (old) PR by a couple of minutes and you don't let me bask in the success of that for even a week before bringing in your next PR .... over a minute faster than mine! Way to keep the pressure on
MTA: Pics from the Dallas Rock & Roll half. Scenery was different:
I would love to hit that 1:50:00 mark for the HM. I think the only way I could do it is to bump to 5 days per week running and getting some speed work into my regime. I honestly don't think I have the time or the energy to do that at this point. If my life and my work schedules were different right now, I would love to kick it up and get there. I am just happy to be fit and see progress still being made. I think there is still room for improvement even where I am at......I need to loose another 10 lbs. probably and kick the beer habit I have is all. ;-)
Well, good luck to your training and I hope your next race you can leap-frog over this PR of mine and set a new bar for me.
Cheers, man!
#RunEveryDay
Your pictures are fantastic! Looks like an amazing place to race and to kick your PR like that is huge! Nicely done!
Half Fanatic #9292.
Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.
UNOFFICIAL TIME (my watch): 1:50:11
OFFICIAL TIME: 1:50:10
Race day started at 4:00 AM with a bowl of Kashi cereal followed by getting all dressed and ready to go. My friend picked me up at 5:00 to head to the race. We were REALLY early but we decided to go get coffee and watch the marathon group take off at 6:00. We waited around, stretched a bit and people-watched.
Assembled in our corral with like 20 to 25 minutes to go. National anthem.....race director address....yada, yada, yada.
Weather couldn't have been better. It has been cloudy, rainy, snow even this week in Denver. This morning it was crystal clear and somewhere between 40 and 45 F at the race start.
I went out fast......yeah, I know, rookie move. Usually when I set a pace, though, I just cannot slow down, so I figured if I was going to PR, I needed to set an aggressive pace early. To hit 1:50:00 (goal), I needed to finish with an average pace of 8:24 per mile. Through 2/3 of the race I was at 8:15 and then I just crashed. During the last 4 miles I probably took 4 or 5 walk breaks and just had ran out of gas. I knew the last 1 or 2 miles had a slight down hill, so if I could only get through a flat section (which SUCKED), maybe I could speed it up a bit coming into the finish. Check my pace graph......I was able to do just that and had nothing else to give at the end.
A hard race, for sure, but results were good.
Great Stuff Sean - You are having an awesome year mate - keep it up!
+1
3 days before the race, I had a brutal side-stitch (1st time in months) which still felt slightly uncomfortable the morning of the race. I'm not sure what was going on with my stomach but I was worried it would flare up again and ruin the day.
Before the race with my brother-in-law (I'm on the right)
Looking goofy about 3 miles in
Dramatic finish for the cameras
My brother-in-law ran with me which made it even more fun, finishing his first half in 1:39:24, feeling "good the whole way". He's a stronger runner than I am, which is great since it gives me something to chase.
My #1 fan - DW
Ran a PR at 50:47. My goal was to break 50:00, but I just wasn't feeling it today.
Here is a picture of me in the stadium at the finish.....in the bright green shirt.
Pace chart from my Garmin too.
Edited to get the image links corrected.
Great PR (again!!!) Sean - one of these days you are going to run a race and not get one.... then what will you do?
I also had a 10k today. American Hero's 10k in Arlington TX.
Goal for the year is to go under 53:00. Today's stretch goal was under 52:00 (I ran a 10k split in a 15k in Jan in 52:08).
Safe to say that today was not the day. 82F on the start line, a little windy + quite humid. I can't blame the weather, I just was not trained for it. First mile was OK but about 1.5 miles in I knew that 52' or 53' was not going to happen. Switched to my backup goal of trying to make 54'. To summarize the rest of the race - I just died on my arse in the heat!
I am pleased that:
A year ago I would have kept on at that pace for another mile and then walked the last 4 miles home!
Waiting for my official results but Garmin clocked me at 54:01.06 so failed to even meet the backup goal! Sometimes them's the breaks.
Still, a great event supporting all branches of the military with a phenomenal Apache flyover at the start.
Thanks to all who serve or have served.
There will be another 10k - hopefully a little cooler next time!
You may be surprised at your official time.......hopefully they have you at 53:59 or less.....you never know, it could be.
Officially 54:00.60 - LOL, missed by sixth tenths of a second!
That said, I entered the "Clydesdale" (Fat Boy) category for the event and came second, out of 13.